Gathering Pieces
by Pollux Unbound
Summary: When Ichigo killed Ulquiorra, he didn't see what was coming. Filled with guilt & forced to seek ways to resurrect the Espada, he learns that goodness thrives in dark days. Indeed, love thrives with a twist. Possibly GrimmIchi & OriUlqui
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach; genius Kubo Tite does.

--

I wanted to kill the bastard and get it over with, or that was perhaps the initial reaction. In the first place, I didn't know what rescuing him or keeping him alive would do, except that I'd be the constant receiver of his undying curses, with good reasons, but I did exactly just that anyway. And I had thought I had decent IQ.

"What the hell do you want this time?"

The rain was fierce, with not the slightest indication of subsiding within a couple of hours, in the very least. He was soaking wet, his hair limp from the water, yet all the same no amount of moisture could wipe away the resentment in his face; not that water could literally do that, duh.

"Where do you think you're going?" I asked.

"So I really owe you my life, don't I?"

"I simply wanted to make sure you wouldn't go around murdering people."

"If that's my savior's wish, I'd oblige. You have my word, shinigami." Grimmjow Jaggerjack told me. It wasn't nearly an assurance as a death threat was. If anything, he was mocking me, yet all he did, from what my observation could tell, was to contort his face in such a way so befitting the murderous bastard that he was.

Didn't wanna admit it, but he was dishy as hell when he pulled that facial expression.

"Know what, cut this out. It's difficult for me as it is for you, so why don't you just behave and try to be good for once."

"Good? Well, that's something that hasn't been asked of me for a while."

"I'm pretty serious, Grimmjow."

"And so am I. Stop following me."

That was when I realized I'd been making a pretty good despo out of me. It wasn't right to tolerate behavior of this sort. But what else could be done if a bastard was doing his best to get out of your sight and fulfill all the wrong tendencies he had in him, granted you weren't allowed to render him six feet under?

"Just tell me what you're up to."

He paused. It was like some sick prank of destiny in doing what it could to make me a total jackass. I didn't mean to impose myself on him. In fact not on anyone. But, no, this was something I had to do if I was truly a champion of the good and all the shit Shinigami duties stood for. Back to Grimmjow; he was staring at me for quite a number of uncomfortable seconds, mind you.

"You killed him. I'm not gonna go easy on that."

Somewhere at the part of exchanging blank looks, I started to feel like he was getting seriously irritated so that I could only curl my brows for the lack of logic of it all.

"Who?"

"You bastard. You killed him and now there's nothing…dammit, why am I explaining? Just fuck off."

Now I was pissed, but before I could dole out some indignities, he took off, leaving me out in the rain. Well, if I tried to follow him, two things could happen. First, nothing. Second, I'd be made to look idiotic one last time for the go. So having just taken failure to a new level, I headed back to the quarters. And then things began to dawn on me. I killed quite a number of fellas, looking back…

Was he referring to Ulquiorra? Most importantly, was he _mourning _for him?

Now this was getting funny. I murdered the bastard, alright, wanted him dead with all the strength of my soul, with all the honesty a teenage dude like me could produce in a lifetime. Would you believe? I was, after all, entirely capable of honing homicidal musings, perhaps for later enactment. Now to get to the funny part; I defeated Ulquiorra, and along with the triumph came the consequence of, say, having saved the damsel, Inoue. Heroic? Maybe not. But most definitely not less than your regular show of valor. And then there was Grimmjow, bleeding all over the place, literally. I saved the bastard, took him to safety, suppressed the gushing blood to maintain what life he had left, and… perhaps I didn't know what I was doing back then. Bottom line; I took care of the villain, rescued a fallen enemy out of what you might call compassion, to earn myself the title Messiah. So, more or less, I saved the fucking day.

Having done all these, later in the afternoon just when I was starting to wake up to the thought that I had staged out there two grand acts of perfect heroism, I ended up being the grandest jerk in the lives of two Arrancar, one of which was dead. Why, why in fucking hell was I being made to feel like shit after the charity I had rendered to the world?

Depending on whom I might suggest this to, Grimmjow Jaggerjack, the heartless ingrate, had probably been in love with his fellow Arrancar, who, as mentioned, was roaming beneath the soil because of me.

Now why was my heart getting tighter? It wasn't guilt--I was positive about that-- but I sure hoped it wasn't _more _than guilt.

Did I rescue Grimmjow for reasons other than sheer hypocrisy or some glorious commendation from the righteous authorities of Soul Society? Was I, in some sick joke of providence, fated to sympathize with this brute and feel his pain, if he was indeed hurting? Wasn't I already feeling it---the pain itself?

Either way, this was starting to hurt…

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

I was thinking, _she's the catch_. Large breasts, long brown hair, face of an angel, hopelessly in love with me… Inoue Orihime was this particular person who could make the impossible happen. She could, well, reverse certain occurrences, granted that the scale of its damage was well within her range of reversing abilities. That was something, I guessed. So as I sat across her now, I began to be more direct with my input to try to get to the point faster than necessary. Yeah, I had always been an impatient bastard, even to my girlfriend. Yeah, Inoue Orihime was my girlfriend.

"When he reached out a hand to you, right before he disintegrated, what was that all about?"

Yeah, I know. I was being a huge, prying son of a gun. Now, for whatever reason, there would always be this unspoken thought that I had to ask something so bold now or never. She answered,

"Kurosaki-kun, it could mean a lot of things. It may have been that he found his heart right at the last moment or he wanted to cling to life, and in attempting so could only extend a hand to this only soul which could have bound him back to it."

"Oh."

I should say she regarded herself more highly than what I might've expected. Come on, I was sure someone who was as much a bastard as Ulquiorra was couldn't have procured something as nice as attachment, not even towards someone like Inoue.

"I've been meaning to tell you something, Kurosaki-kun, but was too cowardly to take it into action."

"Speak to me."

"I-I perhaps wouldn't have known the darker side of sorrow if you hadn't killed him. I don't hate you, for you are and always shall be dearest to me. But now I reckon sorrow can really sway something as solid as love itself. I fear that I love you less today than before the day you saved me. Forgive me, Kurosaki-kun, I love you, but…"

"But you fell in love with the beast, with Ulquiorra Scheiffer, right before you had the chance to assess your feelings. Stockholm syndrome much?"

I couldn't tell why I was being so calm about this when my girlfriend had just practically cheated on me. Perhaps it was more of a pretense of civility- you know, just trying to appear reverse to what I ought to.

"I'm sorry. I had to tell you now. But if it's any comfort, nothing would've changed between you and me if he were alive."

"As if that's anything much more than empty consolation… but listen, Inoue, you want him back, don't you? You want him alive and well. And I do too, and so does someone else, someone of great impact concerning this fallen Espada."

"What are you saying?"

"Let's bring him back. Let's resurrect the fallen."

Oddly enough, instead of harboring doubts as to whether I was acting sane or not, she seemed rather curious, even enthused by the absurdities shooting off my goddamn mouth. But for propriety's sake, I supposed, she tried to look alarmed,

"Ichigo, he's-dusts and wind! Not even something as powerful an artifact as the King's Key can bring the dead back to life… there's just no way for Ulquiorra…"

"No way, you say? Well then, my love, we're gonna have to find one or _make _one."

The strange thing about me was, I was perhaps the most psychotic person you ever saw. You see, if I was doing this other than for my own benefit, it must mean the world had gone upside down or inside out or that Byakuya Kuchiki had decided to stop being a pompous prick. Only that, I didn't know what was gonna be the benefit of all this, seriously.

"I-If that's how it is, I'll stay by you, and assist you, go with you wherever you may go." She said.

"That being settled, I'll have to make you sit tight and wait for further instructions, from me. And I'm _breaking _up with you. I hope you comprehend."

We were going over the familiar sands of Hueco Mundo when I realized I might have simply been asking too much. Worse, I couldn't really say much to her since the breakup, naturally, and she wouldn't utter a damn word in return. Who the hell returns silence for silence these days? In any case, what we were doing was illegal, in all respects, just so you know and, more than that, we couldn't exactly gauge the odds of its fruitfulness-if truth be told.

We were looking for the departed.

"This is the place, is it not?" I asked the ex-girlfriend.

She nodded. She was probably thinking what I was thinking; combing for the dead, as it turned out, wasn't nearly as enjoyable as a quest for some challenge, especially in my case where I wasn't really looking forward to meeting someone whom I had just murdered. But could the dead be brought to life? And if that was so, who had the power?

"What if it doesn't work?"

Just what I was thinking. Well, the story went as such that someone, rather something, inside me who wasn't me at all had done me a huge favor of defeating an opponent against whom I stood very little chance. If you wanted to hear the whole of it, well, I only had guts for an advantage, and nothing besides that. Frankly, I couldn't remember any of it. As such, I didn't see what I thought I saw. Ulquiorra Scheiffer turned to dusts. He was in pieces, countless of it, right before my eyes, and somehow it hurt me too, just as it tore Inoue's heart in as many pieces. That wasn't the way I had wanted to win. Going back, I knew for a fact that Inoue had gathered the ashes that Ulquiorra had become. If she was trying to keep that from me, she surely made a very poor job of it. And she was carrying him now.

"You have the ashes with you?"

"Yes, always."

"Take it out."

"Knowing that I have his remains with me, have you ever stopped to consider that I tried this before? I can't turn ashes back to flesh and blood. I'm strong, but I'm _not _that strong."

Time to tell her what I knew.

"Ulquiorra didn't die. He was decimated only."

"What?"

"He entrusted his heart to you, didn't he? His body passed on while everything that's immaterial in him he left behind-to you and to Grimmjow, possibly."

I could probably blow the next scene and start hopping around like mad to polish the stupidity of this all. Even worse, she, who had always held this unreasonable trust in me, was starting to look skeptical. And who wouldn't?

"If he is indeed still out there, how can my grief resuscitate him? And what's Grimmjow got to do with this?"

"He grieves too, believe it or not. He's only just admitted it to me, in his own way, and now it's _your _turn."

That was the best I could pull for a grand persuasion, which was received as if my words were accompanied by a plague of some sort.

"W-what do I have to do? This is impossible; we need power for this, at least magical equipments-if it's even going to work in the first place-"

"-you said you trust me. Now go ahead and vent your grief. Just do it, for once, dammit, just this fucking once, Inoue."

I was looking as though I was all set up to strike her with my fist, but that was just how it looked. After all, she was the type who would succumb to any humane favor by merely being there standing beside her. So she subdued, took a long breath and recited tearfully,

"I-I loved Ulquiorra Scheiffer. Loved him the first time he came up to my room in Las Noches to tell me the dress suited me well. I loved him more when he asked me what a heart was. I loved him to his death."

She didn't have to unload that much, at least not in front of her recent ex-boyfriend. It was probably painful to hear, and even harder was to bear the scale of this revelation. In fact, I was so out of composure that I hardly noticed the ashes, Ulquiorra's remains, begin to rise from the container, before darting towards a definite direction. No one was expecting them to materialize into Cuatro Espada and, of course, that didn't happen.

But something was clearly _happening_. The countless grains, lifeless though they were, fled from us, to gather in a place leagues from where we were. And there, I just knew, a rebirth was starting to take place. I felt it, and she felt it too, felt the reality of it all that he was coming back.

Apocalypse confirmed. That reiatsu couldn't have belonged to anyone else. It was weak, so weak that it was hardly even there-even likely that years and lots of hardship would not be sufficient to restore what it once was. Nevertheless…

Ulquiorra Scheiffer.

"Grimmjow Jaggerjack, you bastard, you owe me one big favor." I muttered to myself.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

So, great. Under the guise of a more or less considerate human being, the best I could say was, I just did the unthinkable. To my credit, however, I wasn't scared. I was a little apprehensive, if not altogether wary, but the feeling I was having was a lot different from the one I had back then when he unleashed his second Espada Resurrection. Setting my personal interests aside and to give way to a more significant thought, I began to wonder; was he going to be the very same Ulquiorra Scheiffer whom we had known as Cuatro Espada, my least favorite among Aizen's henchmen, and also the bastard who, in some respects, took my girlfriend from me? If not, then, what was he to be? I could detect the progress of his materialization, and maybe also little hints of his current mindset to be sure there was something different-for a huge number of reasons.

"He's really…" Inoue was, as she couldn't miss the signals she was getting, lost for words.

"Yeah, he's back. Shall we?" I asked.

I wouldn't normally walk into a trap or drop into a pit full of spikes but now, depending on the danger level of what I could feel at the moment, I should be hosting a welcoming party for the Espada bastard.

"It's dangerous. He's weak now, but who knows what he'll be capable of when we get to where he is?"

Good point.

I might have been very unaware of the specific possibilities we had just invited, because it was true that our actions might as well have doomed our future and we went on ahead with it anyway. Nevertheless, we quickly discharged ourselves to the scene, never realizing what awaited us. All we were hoping for the moment was for this to be kept a secret from the inhabitants of Soul Society.

How wrong we were for hoping that big never would have made it to our considerations if they didn't come shooting down on us as though it was raining bastards.

One by one, high-ranking officers of the Shinigami force pierced through the dimension gateway with so great a speed that I couldn't determine how many of them had landed.

"Looks like we've got company." I informed my companion, who merely nodded.

I was pretty amazed with her composure and resoluteness, which were exactly the set of things I needed. However, the coolness didn't last long, of course, because the Shinigami people clearly had sped long ahead of us toward where Ulquiorra was. Sure enough, we were intercepted in no time.

It was a relief that it was Hisagi Shuuhei who went to greet us and not any other soul less friendly. Had things been otherwise, like if it were some uptight prick like Byakuya, the situation for Inoue and I would have consisted of difficulties of great measure.

"I am not surprised you guys are here. But, believe it or not, we have things under control." He announced, before holding out his had for me to shake.

Before I could explain the complexity of our reason for being there, Inoue, who sometimes couldn't really control her emotions, or her goddamn mouth for that matter, shot out in what seemed like panic,

"Can we see him, Hisagi-san? We're not going to get in the way, we promise." She pleaded, in a manner which said there could be no other things to be done but to grant us access to the resurrected Espada. As for me, I was fighting the urge to push her aside and shoot past the vice-captain rather than negotiate in a professional way.

Hisagi stared at her, not sternly but rather condescendingly.

I zoomed past him before he changed his mind. I bet the ex-girlfriend did the same.

And there he was. Ulquiorra Scheiffer. Surrounded by dozens of powerful warriors, he was in a situation where he could as much tell which actions to choose best as he could smile a real smile. In all assurances, there was nowhere for him to run, and the most sensible thing he could do at the moment was to capitulate. If anything, his compromising position, rendered more strange by his utter lack of clothing, made this Shinigami operation extremely easy, and therefore predictable. He was weak, and everyone could feel it.

"Espada, speak your purpose for re-emerging and tell us the name of the individual who summoned you." Someone spoke in a cold voice.

It was captain Soi Fon of the second division. Aside from her, there were three other captains within the perimeter. Things, apparently, weren't going so smoothly for Inoue and I. At any rate, Ulquiorra blinked at the second division captain, having determined her address was directed to him. He didn't answer; rather he could not. Cautiously, and with effort, he stood up, looked around the people around him, to ultimately abandon his nakedness to its own course. Had circumstances been less severe, I would have scoffed with indignity.

I heard Orihime gasp beside me.

"What the hell is wrong with this bastard?" I whispered to her ear.

As though everyone had been deprived of the ability to answer questions they ought to answer, Inoue ignored me. To my surprise and vexation, she flitted across the sand in a speed I didn't know she possessed. Before I and every bastard knew it, she was wrapping her coat around the Espada, like some philanthropist in service of a beggar.

"Ryoka, get away from him!" Soi Fon was almost screaming.

Harshly, they wrenched Inoue away from the resurrected bastard as one would extricate a rag doll from a little girl. Strangely enough, Ulquiorra wrapped himself with her coat and assumed an expression of earnest dismay for the harsh treatment the generous woman received.

"Who are you people and where am I?" Ulquiorra spoke, his huge eyes searching and confused. Altogether it gave him the appearance of a lost kitten.

Naturally, the first which came to mind was the idea that he was simply demented, if nothing else. Why, Inoue would at least have brought the slightest of recollection on him, if not a complete recognition, but all the same the bastard didn't even look at her twice to indicate any sort of familiarity.

As a result, a number of people scoffed at this and assumed the Espada was jesting, if he was capable of humor at all. As for me, I was seeing things quite differently. Did his death take away his memory? More importantly, was he now a creature reborn? I wouldn't know. Apparently, there were no observers, thoughtful or otherwise, holding the same suspicion as mine. By their wary faculties, they had no other action at their disposal save for one; that is, to arrest this reborn villain.

"We do not answer questions, foolish ones most especially. Surrender now or find yourself degenerating to dusts once more. Now which is it, Espada?" Soi Fon answered.

Whether it occurred to her to acknowledge my part in Ulquiorra's having once before 'degenerated to dusts' was anyone's guess. With that in mind, I figured there, of course, was no need for them to be informed of Inoue's and my part in the Espada's very recent 'regeneration from dusts'. Really, I would rather be spared the trouble.

"Where are papa and mama and Otouto?"

Really now, insane or not, this bastard was giving us everything we never would have expected. Why, it was hard enough to wrench anything out of him without his being absolutely off his rockers. So, having been so astonished with his perplexing behavior, it took me long enough to realize all this was happening to my advantage. No, they would have no way of discovering we were responsible for this turn of events.

But now I had to be insane at a very inconvenient time, because for some ungodly reason I just had to say,

"The fuck are you talking about? You have no parents, much less a whole family, git, unless of course you're desperate and determined enough to call Aizen your father and the Espada your brothers."

Kuchiki Byakuya, who was also present if I might mention, cast me a derisive glare, as if that would have revoked my explicitness.

"Did you hurt them? Where's my brother?"

This time, the worried, anxious look on the Espada's face drove me to assert its authenticity. He was distressed, as things were, but this discomfiture, it seemed, had nothing to do with being surrounded by all these formidable individuals. Among other things, the tone of his voice alone could've done the job.

As I look around me, it appeared these ignorant blokes couldn't help raising hostile thoughts and, worse, they were all set up to unsheathe their Zanpakotou, apparently for the immediate disposal of the naked, weapon-less, altogether defenseless and perhaps innocent former villain. For my part, as this was all my doing and, to my shame, blunder, I spoke,

"Do you not remember me, Cuatro?"

He turned his head to my direction, studied me from head to toe, all the while gathering anticipation from the crowd.

"I do not, nor do I know why you address me as such and why so much hostility is rallied here against me. I ask you again, why am I here?"

The answer to his question was as clear as fucking sunlight to me and Inoue but hardly obvious to anyone else. It was getting awkward, so much that most of my thoughts began to withdraw. In time, it was Byakuya who answered.

"We should ask you the same. We know not the purpose of your reintroduction to existence and the reason for this _charade_. However extreme your methods are to escape your fate, they remain futile. Submit, and the worst shall be avoided."

Apparently, the worst, as the high and mighty captain put it, went along the lines of struggling to cart the powerless Cuatro to the dungeons of Seretei. It became obvious to me that the survivors of the Hueco Mundo purge mattered very little to them. For all we knew, Tia Halibel, Tercera Espada, who was now the regnant Queen of the Underworld, was watching from somewhere.

"I have occasioned you nothing to merit this treatment. Let me roam free to seek my family. But I have the feeling that my brother is under your dispensation. Where is he?"

Just who was this brother he kept yapping about? In all manner of consideration, they should just let him off the hook, what with all the evidences pointing to the obvious fact. Clearly, he had lost his marbles. Jesus. These shinigami autocrats were getting too tyrannical for their own good. I could voice this out, to beg for reason, but someone beat me into speaking first,

"I'm here, Ulquiorra."

It was Grimmjow Jaggerjack.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Just like most of us that day, Grimmjow couldn't believe his eyes. But unlike many of us, he drew closer to where Ulquiorra was to assert the reality he thought he was seeing. It might have been his idea of a joke, to ignore most of us at a time like this but with the way he showed up just like that, like some vagrant Knight in shining armor, he was kinda funny.

And so along with his sudden presence, I had to remember that which I would've seen coming had I been self-respecting enough to secure my innocence, which I didn't have, by the way. In the moments that followed, panic, or what felt like doomsday, came dawning on me. Grimmjow, if memory served, was supposed to be under _my _watch. I comforted myself with the fact that he was in many ways what one might call insufferably insubordinate to whatever rules you might wanna impose on him, so perhaps I could be excused for delegating my responsibility to someone else. I just hoped to hell that that someone else had done her job neatly. Instead, here was Grimmjow, mightily disposed to subject my day to a flagrant meltdown.

But, setting aside my personal concerns in the matter, what the fuck was happening?

"Advance no further, Arrancar." Byakuya warned the disinterested Sexta Espada.

Grimmjow looked as though he could stand there to listen only for too long before he was dozing, waiting for a more palpable threat, or to be shaken off this dreary pit of boredom.

"Sheesh. You bunch of dictators conquering Hueco Mundo now?

"Very well. Abarai, cuff this ruffian."

Renji produced an odd-looking equipment with his free hand and his sword with the other, which basically meant that, handcuffs or no, Grimmjow was a dead man.

As for me, I only wished for Sexta to behave accordingly just this once for his sake, and perhaps mine. And if that should prove too hard, I seriously wished to disappear right then and there.

But Grimmjow Jaggerjack would do what any reasonable man would do in his position; he drew his Zanpakotou. Against his better judgments, he really believed he could take on Renji Abarai… who _wasn't _the real problem at hand. The problem was, mentioned fukutaicho happened to be standing just a few feet from his _captain_. Without a question, this was suicide.

"Grind, Pantera."

Gosh.

If I had known things were to turn out messier than what I could fix, like exactly what was taking place now, I wouldn't have entrusted Grimmjow's care to Kusajishi Yachiru, of all people, believe me. But to find someone who was willing to do the job without bothering with logical questions was pretty much the same as leaving the trouble-making Arrancar to spend the day at his leisure. So, you see, I had no other choice than to seek the generosity of the eleventh division vice captain… which made me wonder, where was Yachiru at this hour and why was Grimmjow roaming as free as fucking flies? In any case, I highly doubted Grimmjow had murdered her.

The officers were now wielding their magnificent weapons, bringing about a sight not entirely promising. Why, all this would have to be scripted for the outnumbered party to stand a chance. Nevertheless, the saying went like, where you find a force to be reckoned with, you find a counterforce just as reckonable. Jesus. That was stupid, possibly even made up by some drunkard on a pub somewhere, besides being inapplicable to anything. Come on. If I could give my two cents on the matter, they should-

Well, in all appearances, Grimmjow wasn't doing half bad. In fact, this could drag on for an hour or so because, somehow, 'cuffing the ruffian' wasn't quite as easy as how Byakuya made it sound. As long as Soi Fon and Byakuya and Komamura remain on their spots, this might turn out to be worth the audience. But, of course, not any of it were to be, because the sixth division captain drew himself forward, asked everyone to step aside and, well, the rest needed no narration.

Fifteen or so minutes later, the two captured Espada were being marshaled toward the Gargantua. The sight of them introduced me to a whole new set of thoughts. These two, naturally, were less the sort of characters we were used to manipulating, and more the sort we were used to fearing. And yet now, they were somehow subdued, contented for the meantime with being reunited. What is happening here? Was the word 'brother' merely a substitute reference to a comrade, for a lack of better words to choose from?

"Halt, Hisagi-san, if I may ask Sexta Espada a thing or two." I heard myself say. I swear I wouldn't have appealed if I could avoid to say these things but, as was always the case, there were lots of things I couldn't quite avoid; shutting up, for instance.

To my annoyance, Soi fon answered. "Ryoka, if you had been more accomplished, or should I say trustworthy, none of these would have happened. From here on, I am assigning Hisagi Shuuhei to look after any such prisoners who are given more liberty than what the ones in the dungeons are granted. You are relieved of your duties. Go back to Karakura this minute."

Being the prick that I was, I was swift to argue my point, at least initially, but thought better of it. After all, I should at least be thankful for everyone else's lack of awareness of the whole matter, that Inoue and I were in fact the ones who resuscitated Cuatro Espada, out of what you might call whim. Geez, somehow I wished it were deeper than that. Moving on, it wasn't like I could win a verbal combat against someone like Soi Foin even if lying were permitted.

Thus I pitched myself behind the long line of shinigami officers under the pretext of wanting to get away from the two Espada, when I was just about begging to be granted an interview with Grimmjow some two minutes ago. I was lucky these people were stupid or were otherwise suffering from short-term memory loss. So, after determining that Soi Fon had proceeded to her post at the head of the line, and that my coast was clear of Byakuya and Komamura, I bounced back to where I previously was just within five seconds of proclaiming I would stay away from said spot. Shuuhei, for his part, gave me a stern look which seemed to say I had about four minutes to get my nosing-around done, for which I was truly grateful. Wasting no time to perform my deed as quickly as necessary, I told Sexta Espada out of everyone's earshot,

"You shouldn't have come. I would have delivered Ulquiorra at your doorstep, without the commotion, of course."

He stared at me, smiled the most devious smile I ever had the pleasure of seeing, and hissed through clenched teeth,

"You miss the point, shinigami. I need no assistance from your lot or from anyone. In fact if there's one thing I ask of you, it's that you _fuck _off."

"Really, Arrancar? May I inform you of the gravity your situation? Among other things, Commander is at the present most likely arranging all the necessary procedures, gallows, axes, executioners and all, for the grand separation of that goddamn neck from your beautiful head. Same goes for Ulquiorra here. Now, unless you decide my 'fucking off' shouldn't be carried out, neither of you is in deep shit."

Upon mention of his name, Cuatro made a sudden movement. Before Grimmjow could retaliate, Ulquiorra spoke,

"Let me and my brother go. Ask anything I have in my power to grant in exchange. Please."

There was no time to be astonished at his pleading tone, because Shuuhei was beginning to cast suspicious glances at our directions. Hastily, I assured the pale Arrancar,

"I ask nothing, except your word. Do I have it?"

"Name it."

"I want you and Grimmjow to sit tight and not to attempt any recklessness which may jeopardize your lives. Think of it as the next logical step, like the calm before the storm. In no time flat, you'll be skipping steps to sweet freedom. Patience." I was saying barely above a whisper.

"Do not believe a word this prick says-" Grimmjow was protesting, just in time to get interjected by his fellow Espada,

"You have my word."

"Done." So, having been satisfied with successfully thrusting to them my assurance without even bothering with the specifics, I was determined to walk away with an accomplished grin across my face, no more no less. But then something held me back.

"Brother, you call this man beside you. Why?" I asked. I did realize I'd been far too direct for my own good to uncovering the mystery, but I had to ask it now or never. After all, wrenching the answer might just require little to no strategy.

Grimmjow was suppressing a fit of anger, looking as though he had more than the required annoyance to stuff his fist in Ulquiorra's mouth, or mine for that matter. Luckily, this new Ulquiorra was more than willing to exhaust a portion of his seldom-used eloquence, perplexed though he was with a question whose answer seemed to him a general truth.

"He is my brother. In accordance to that, I address him with due intimacy. We are fraternal twins, with me getting introduced to the world fifteen minutes ahead of him. Our parents are U- and M-. Their whereabouts now remain clouded to me. We wish to seek them."

Hearing this was like getting ready for or receiving some sobering truths about some long kept mystery. While this revelation didn't significantly, or rather necessarily, alter an established order of things, the scale of it imposed on me an impact so hard to deconstruct. Why hadn't all this been made classified information before now? More importantly, was Ulquiorra relating to me the whole truth, that one truth, and nothing but the truth?

I was all set up to comment a thing or two when Shuuhei pulled me away from them, but not before I managed to catch the sincerity on Ulquiorra's face.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

The surest thing I could say about that day was, it was rest-assuredly World Amnesia Day, if not some World Unawareness Day. I could forgive myself for entirely forgetting about Inoue right at the exact moment when Grimmjow showed up or about Grimmjow's security, but as to why I failed to remark the absence of Ulquiorra's mask was beyond me. But as this was one of those questions which no one, other than God, could have answered, I went back to business.

The long march of the two Arrancar met its end at the foot of the Seretei Penitentiary Unit, the gates of which were slammed at my face the moment I was close enough to pass through them. It turned out that civilians weren't allowed in places like that. And it also turned out I was, in fact, a goddamn civilian, what with all the shinigami accessories I was wearing. So, feeling impelled to clear a few things up, I headed to the Eleventh Division's quarters. Luckily, I found there the person I was looking for.

"You said you'd keep an eye on him." I reminded Yachiru.

"I did, but when he jumped into the hole I couldn't see him anymore."

"Yeah, seems like you did keep an eye on him and, know what, that's all you did; watch him."

"Yes! No need to thank me. But it was bad business, berry-head, bad."

Bad, she said. When something was bad enough for Yachiru, it was probably more than bad. It most likely would be bad in a larger-than-life sort of way. Normally, I wouldn't start taking risks in a direction which involved entrusting to a toddler an enormous responsibility, but I did just that anyway. As it was, I found the conversation extremely vexing and, thankfully, over.

It was a long time before I could look at her without the desire to yell, but I was kind enough to remember I hadn't given her the best instructions needed for a job well done. And she was really still a child in my eyes. It wasn't like scolding would work. So having tried my best to reason with her, which was hopeless even to attempt, to begin with, I accepted defeat with what manliness I had left, and walked away without further complaints.

In the light of later knowledge, I learned that Inoue offered the justice officials her assistance in questioning the two prisoners. Chances were, she didn't know what sort of trouble she dipped her head into, or didn't care if all of it spelled trouble. Either way, she wouldn't give a damn hoot about punishments so long as she got to be in touch with Ulquiorra again. And as I suspected, she meant to do more than the typical interrogation you might wanna perform on criminals. That said, she clearly volunteered her assistance to the authorities with no honest purpose whatsoever.

"I must say, you're really intent on doing this, aren't you?" I asked Inoue when we were finally left alone.

"The cell in which they are confined is practically impenetrable, besides being protected by a number of seals unfamiliar to me."

"Which pretty much says there's no rescuing them as of the moment… Inoue, listen, now is probably not the perfect time to pry on trivial matters, but I'd like to know why and how Ulquiorra suddenly turns out to be Grimmjow's brother."

I looked straight into her eyes as if to say I was in fact possessed by some great urge to be a prying son of a gun. Presently, she was frowning at me, perhaps wanting to expound on her plans to free the two Espada or to seek somebody else's help instead of mine. But because she couldn't do either of these, she spoke in a solemn voice,

"They are indeed brothers, at least with respects to Ulquiorra's accounts, and Grimmjow-san would communicate little to me. My hypothesis is this; when you killed Ulquiora at the time when he was an Espada, all memories of his life as Aizen's underling died with him, in perhaps the same manner as all memories of his life as a normal spirit were destroyed when he transformed into a Hollow. I'm confident enough to say he never remembered any of his past life when he was dwelling in Hueco Mundo. And now, having been resurrected as the same soul that he formerly was, vaguely his memories prior to being an Arrancar were resurrected as well, only that some of them have been blotted out. It seems to me that you _never_ really killed him, that you only killed the Arrancar in him, therefore purifying him."

She said all this without any more constraint than if she had been speaking of headlines. Slowly, I noticed she had been willing to tell me everything in due time, if only I didn't have to be an impatient prick. But this proposal was pointedly one of the most obvious conclusions that could be drawn from the circumstances, if not the only one. Still, a few questions remained, so I inquired,

"If he turned into an Arrancar, or was turned deliberately into one, it entails that he in fact died, or was killed . But who could've killed him, them?"

"That, Kurosaki-kun, remains to be seen. But I suppose what's really worth a mention is the fact that the authorities of Seretei were very particular on the prohibition of certain questions I might heap on the two. I was limited to inquire about matters whose answers may lead them to the culprit, the person who revived Ulquiorra-that means you and me. I was not allowed to hint on subjects which refer to their pasts. Anyhow, I only managed to gather this much because I was sharp enough to employ my Rikka to shield my personal questions from the guards. Now, inexplicably, the judicial body seems to be very anxious about obtaining the identity of the culprit, as if to point out they are suspecting something dark and big is behind all this, when the truth is as plain as that wall behind you. In short, something is being kept from our knowledge, and I doubt if a lot of people are well-versed with that something, whatever it may be. In the end, I have been of very little help to the judicial body."

Inoue had really grown to be a very mature woman without my knowledge. At the back of my mind, I regretted having paid very little attention to her inner merits and her remarkable courage. At any rate, her accounts gave us a lot to think about, most especially because there was no unraveling them entirely at present.

"We'll see to that soon enough. Going back, would you openly suggest that transforming into a hollow can most definitely destroy remnants of one's previous life?"

"Yes, I would venture to assert that much, as far as my knowledge goes. After all, I still remember the time when my own brother's spirit attempted to kill me."

"That, of course, is an actual case on which your hypothesis can be based, among other things. But how do you explain Grimmjow's recollection of Ulquiorra as his brother in their previous lives when he remains an Arrancar and is yet to die as one?"

"You forget that he has been pushed within an inch of death for so many times. You almost killed him on your last face-off. Little by little, it seemed, his former nature was being evoked inside him every time fatal bouts with death were inflicted on him. Look at Nel. She can't even remember she was once Tercera Espada. As for Grimmjow, one lasting blow was perhaps Ulquiorra's 'death'. I'd like to think that calamity awakened him in a way, or caused his remembrance to gather where they should. And I reckon it is now very easy to wrench the mask away from his face. Of course, these are all speculations, and would remain so unless we prove something."

Silence fell on us, so that we could both pursue our separate reflections. Her accounts simply told me we had just bargained for more than we could swallow. If the high and mighty and overly pompous ancients of Seretei were taking this twist of fate as something grave and foreboding of real danger, we were rest-assuredly buried in deep shit.

"One more thing, Inoue; did Ulquiorra mention his family name?"

"I knew you'd ask." She nodded. She, however, didn't utter the answer out loud, rather she produced from her pocket a circular object whose intricate design promptly revealed itself to be an emblem of some sort. Though looking quite sturdy and of strong material, it was very weather-beaten and discolored, its nature perhaps speaking of some prior purpose of existence. Inoue continued, "Keep this. Grimmjow barely spoke a word when I was in their cell but he was desperate enough to hand me this. This is his family's emblem. Should I purpose to discover the injustice life served them, he said, I must only trace the origin, history and meaning of this object. I leave the task to you, Kurosaki-kun."

…

I had found myself in the course of my life in many desperate situations. As of the moment, I was standing outside the Thirteenth Division's headquarters, not knowing what stupid consequences were entailed in this desperate action. Without further impediments, I was announced to Jyuushiro Ukitake.

"How may I help you?" Pleasantly he asked, his face cordial but sickly all the same, as if I shouldn't have come at a worse hour.

"Sir, I need access to certain archives whose contents may or may not be as explosive as I thought, but should you be magnanimous enough to entertain my interests, none of us would have to go through hell." And so I was bluffing, stretching my boldness to lengths I couldn't have reached had the person in front of me been less cordial and gentle in his manners. Way down deep inside, I would very much like to abandon the scene and apologize much later on or pretend I never knocked on their door. But what was done was done.

"And would you happen to possess a permission from the Commander?"

"No, obviously for obvious reasons. For Christ's sake, sir, no one here has to be difficult."

"As much as I want to avoid violence, you can't expect me to just-"

"-sir, listen," I interrupted with the sort of vehemence you'd least exercise on people like the captain of the Thirteenth Division.

In my agitation, instead of resorting to reason or anything less bold, I found my fingers tightly clenched around the mysterious emblem, and no sooner than I realized what I was doing my hand raised, surely on its own accord, to show him the magnificent object.

Jyuushiro Ukitake, so it appeared, was thinking of I knew not what and I was thinking of what the fuck have I brought upon myself and Inoue. For what seemed like three hours, he stared at the emblem like a woman distraught, and to me like a mother displeased. In all assurances, this was what they called deep shit.

But he didn't call in the guards nor smite me with his Zanpakotou. To my surprise, he ordered his two vice-captains to leave the room, seeming as serene as he had been at anytime before now. With caution, he never took his eyes off the object, not even when he reached out to a chair.

"You will tell me where and how you got hold of so valuable an artifact such as that." His majestic voice was saying.

I didn't know what he meant but I sure wanted to know what qualified objects for them to be deemed valuable by Ukitake or any scholar like him. Nevertheless, I gathered myself and asked,

"This? I've never given its value, if it has any, much thought, but if you care to tell me how a small, damaged piece of metal may turn out to be of some importance, perhaps I'd also care to tell you something."

He sighed, duly affronted by my audacity, and after a pensive repose spoke,

"Once it belonged to a very powerful family whose nobility of blood and strength of character might have caused it its ruin, if not exactly _extinction_."

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

I guessed right. Captain Ukitake simply chose to disclose to me as little information as possible in fear of tarnishing his good name and his adherence to whatever principles Soul Society had been forcing on captains all those years. I, on the other hand, trusted him to such a degree as to tell him all that I knew; I attributed the emblem to Soul Society's two recent captives.

"But it can't be." He said more to himself than to anyone else in the room, who happened to be me.

"Well, as far as things are going, it _can _be or it already is."

He didn't seem to be listening, else he didn't hear me at all. And so he continued his monologue, which made me ask myself why I was even bothering myself to talk.

"The H(insert noble family's name here) Family had long since perished, and with them all traces of their existence. Orders were given…"

He was so much absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't realize I could very much draw forth pieces of the picture, that Grimmjow and Ulquiorra, besides being siblings from a formidable family, the H- family, were without a doubt former inhabitants of Soul Society, and following some event of remarked significance, a cataclysm of sorts, they were… what, exactly?

Apparently, it was going to take him quite a long while to notice that my ear was approximately one inch from his mouth, if only to catch every goddamn word he had the generosity to utter. At length, he paused, giving me the opportunity to say,

"Frankly, I didn't catch a word you said."

Again, there was no expecting he had heard my remark because, apparently, he was too wrapped up with the matter at hand to realize I was, in fact, the one who introduced him to the goddamn matter at hand and that I therefore deserved an answer and nothing less.

"I shall grant you access to the area of the library which possibly contains the documentations of the piece of Soul Society's history you seek."

"Now you're talking. Thank you."

"In return, you will turn over that emblem to me, for the preservation of history. In the meantime I am going to pay the prisoners a visit to see for myself what the evidences have so far suggested."

I was, of course, more than reluctant to hand it over because it wasn't mine to give to start with. Furthermore, I had by this time already gained too much of Grimmjow's irritation without having to give away what probably was his family's last heirloom. But as goodness would have it I conceded, conceiving in my mind some later plan of action with which to retrieve the object.

…

I was instructed with severity not to reveal my impending quest to the library, only to later on learn it was impossible for my nerves to sneak in there without a companion. And as if this petty crime really called for a cohort or two, the magical cloak Ukitake lent me fitted perfectly for a couple; me and Inoue.

In time, we managed to stuff ourselves in a small chamber where volume after volume of smelly parchments occupied most of the shelves. They were all in a very bad and fragile state that one misplaced breath would send the documents crumbling to oblivion. At any rate, we dug in.

Not very soon after we sat down to skim the delicate articles, Inoue managed to run her eyes over a fragment of what we were looking for. The article, The Nobles Through Centuries, thus titled, dated back from as far as one thousand years ago, with installments which came from around as recent as ten years ago. It was basically a collection of family trees, presented in lines and monstrously distorted penmanship you'd think they were never meant to be deciphered in the near future, with symbols next to names indicating the emblem of the house in which they belonged. With hard work, we distinguished the symbol of the H- House. From there we traced from the start the two Espada's generation. Their names, then spelled in an archaic fashion, appeared later along the line, which meant they were more or less born in Soul Society around five hundred years ago.

From this first article, we learned nothing much more than what we already knew or had guessed. Owing to thorough reading of the material, we distinguished the H- Family as one of those which had boasted of a very long line of formidable nobles. But what was really remarkable was that half of the listed families were declared exiled within the same decade, some four hundred years ago. From what I gathered, there must have been an insurgence sometime around that century which veritably resulted to the stripping down of many titles and properties so that very few noble families now remained. These remaining families included Shihouin, Kuchiki, Ukitake and some of the lesser nobles.

"They were executed." Inoue said, holding another old manuscript in her hand.

"Executed?"

"The H-Family didn't simply participate in a ploy which sought to overthrow the Royal Family; the head of the family, Lord U(insert first name here), the father of Grimmjow and Ulquiorra, was the head of the revolution body. Within a year of declaring civil war against the royals, commoners started to support Lord U-'s cause. But alas, being the face of the revolution itself, his circumstances compelled him to resort to unchecked movements, and eventually he was captured. Not long after that he was beheaded in a manner which caused his spirit to utterly cease to exist, along with his two right-hand men and his wife, the two's mother. When the party crumbled, the campaign ceased, leaving other insurgents to the open, leading to their exile or lynching."

"Beheaded? Ulquiorra told me they mean to seek their parents. How is it that neither of them doesn't seem to know their parents and their relatives are all _dead _as the dodo?"

"It so appears that Captain Ukitake have just availed us the opportunity to grace this section of the library which is forbidden to perhaps 99.9 percent of the population. What I have read here is perhaps unknown even to captains. You know, during the time following the fall of Aizen, I spent most of my time here in the library while waiting for the preparations to go back to Karakura to finish. I've read a great deal about the nobles and other historic families of Soul Society, and _never _once did I come across any such texts pertaining to a mass exile of nobles, much less a civil war or a rebellion. What we have here are generally unknown facts."

"That doesn't answer my question, Inoue."

She sighed, most likely trying to find answers to questions which she found completely insoluble. But she answered,

"I have been led to conclude Grimmjow-san and Ulquiorra-san didn't share the fate of their parents and relatives. There is no mention here of their execution as opposed to the fact that the accounts of their uncles' and cousins' executions are given their due documentation. Something doesn't sound right here. They were either smuggled, rescued more likely, leaving behind their parents without knowing what should become of them, or they were killed in secrecy, to leave no record whatsoever of what became of them. But all these beg the question, how and why did they become hollows, or Arrancar for that matter?"

"I'm inclined to think their misfortunes were deliberately brought upon them. And now almost everything falls to its rightful place. Three or four captains were ordered to be at the scene yesterday _not _because they recognized the sudden appearance of an aura believed to belong to a very powerful Espada, who was supposed to be dead. Had it been less urgent than that, Byakuya alone could've handled Ulquiorra and Grimmjow, without sweating one goddamn drop. What they recognized instead was an aura long thought to have perished, and for that four captains were dispatched instead of one."

"I agree the brothers are in a very difficult situation, but it is even more so difficult to consider they are trying to cook up another civil war. They should release them now. They're as innocent as infants."

"On that respect they are indeed innocent, but it would be long before everyone forgets all their misdeeds under Aizen's commands. Attacking Karakura and blowing up unsuspecting citizens; those are the very sort of things that could land you on the gallows, Inoue."

"That was Ulquiorra then. Would you sentence him now? He doesn't even know what exactly it is he is getting imprisoned for,"

"Look at the bigger picture, Inoue. Their fate most likely depends on the truth we are about to find out. Why are the higher-ups all of a fucking sudden so anxious to isolate these two when just before yesterday Grimmjow was as free as any citizen except for the fact that he was being monitored 24/7, and loosely at that? I'll tell you why; Ulquiorra's brotherly address to him gave their identities away. If you ask me, they are being held under lock and chains and spells, and are subject to elaborate interrogation, for reasons that escape many who would dare to ask."

"But they must be pardoned!" She hissed at me.

"No, that's not gonna happen. I assure you they're off to skirt the gallows as soon as the judicial body succeeds in wrenching out of them the information they need; especially now that they've got them both, they are rest-assuredly as good as two birds in one stone. Goddammit, I should've known."

"We have to save them, then."

"I would agree with you on that one."

…

To cut the long story short, I, together with Inoue, headed back to Ukitake's quarters for the remaining questions our history books failed to answer. In there, many things were revealed to us.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

"The H-family and the whole of its clan first questioned the ruthlessness of the Royals, then their principles and lastly their very existence. Many nobles joined their cause, only to be deposed or exiled one by one later on when all their efforts had come to naught. My family was among those who maintained a neutral stand. Nevertheless, some of them were pardoned after having ascertained they themselves had found the errors of their ways. But never the House of H-." Captain Ukitake was telling us. He had just arrived from the Penitentiary Unit from which he drew out the conclusion that Grimmjow and Ulquiorra were indeed the lost sons of the Lord and Lady of the H- house. He continued,

"They changed very little, as I remember them from brief chance meetings centuries ago. But, whatever the case is, no one would distinguish their faces now. All their family portraits were destroyed, and that's to say nothing of the change Hueco Mundo brought upon their general appearances."

I didn't know why I so readily devoted myself, heart and soul, to the whole matter despite knowing all this was, in great measure, a blunder. But perhaps I only wasn't prepared to face the likelihood that Grimmjow Jaggerjack, right from the start, had meant more to me than what anyone had any reason to suspect; I, included. If he were to be hanged…

"But, Ukitake-san, what became of the sons of Lord H- after that? Ulquiorra and Grimmjow retained almost the same name, so how is it that no one remembers them?"

"You've just answered your own question, Inoue; they became Hollows."

"Why and how?" I asked firmly, with only the desire to save me and Inoue both time and suspense.

Captain Ukitake only had to sigh to inform us he was the sort of person against whom the force of impatience had little power. And so with the same reverent manner, he answered,

"Their parents were duly executed. Naturally, their two sons were next in line for the chopping block. But the twins were smuggled hours before their execution to a place the smuggler believed to be safe; Hueco Mundo."

Inoue gasped at this. The captain motioned for silence and continued,

"The young lordlings possessed immense power. It would've been impossible to conceal them in some odd corner of Soul Society and expect them to remain undetected. Therefore someone, or a group of people, thought it fit to shun them beyond the detection of the Royal Family and its supporters. The venue chosen was Hueco Mundo. At that time, both were quite young but their strengths had been established to be capable of vying against the evils lurking down there. What were mere Hollows to the sons of Lord H-? Ants. They didn't deserve that, of course, but what was exile in a remote underworld compared to certain death? What would be worse than death? Well, we have now come to realize their current situation is worse…They were children, and _some _people were fools to expect they could survive the Underworld."

"Was it you who smuggled them, captain?" I surprised myself and the other two in the room for asking this. Ukitake stared at me, sizing me up for what seemed like my whole worth before making a rejoinder,

"No. It was my father."

Well, of course this was the sort of answer I was expecting, because how could he have known this much anyway if he wasn't directly involved in the affair?

"Why?"

"I don't know, although I've had my suspicion that it had everything to do with mercy. The twins were innocent, as far as their father's actions were concerned, and killing them to punish their father would've been heinous in every sense of the word. It is just a speculation, however, as the mindset of my father and a few other Lords during that time were completely beyond me. I strongly believe he stood not alone on that task. But when all that had been done there was no pursuing the two lordlings. From then on, the names of members of the H-clan were obliterated from all known records, except from the most secret, forbidden archives. A hundred years later, the family's name was left unuttered, as if a certain act of blasphemy were attached to it. Another century rendered it forgotten. In the last one hundred years, the name never existed for all everyone knows. If you fling their names on the street, no one would have recognized them. And we knew not what became of the twins until now."

"And they're in death row because their very existence is equivalent to a rebellion against the Royal Family. I understand it now. The supporters of the Royals believe Ulquiorra has been resurrected by someone, perhaps the same someone who smuggled him and Grimmjow to safety four hundred years ago, so that he could take the place of Lord H- and devise another upheaval to overthrow the King and his family. How very paranoid and stupid. You know, your King needs medication, frankly." I said.

Ukitake shook his head. "Not quite. I have reason to believe many nobles, especially those who once sided with Lord H- and received pardon later on, are only biding their time. And that's not mentioning the exiled ones. The Royals will never allow that, having learned so much from what transpired four centuries ago. Listen, Kurosaki-kun, Inoue-kun; it's too _late_. Understand that when morning comes, the two Arrancar will be no more than ashes-"

"-Ulquiorra is NOT an Arrancar." Inoue interrupted.

"Whatever he or his brother is now matters very little, if not at all. The council will not wait for them to choke out the name of the person who resurrected Ulquiorra-san; they can look into that later on if they please. On the other hand, should mercy be granted them, anyone would not find it hard to lay other charges on them. Know that in the eyes of the most powerful entities here, Grimmjow-san and Ulquiorra-san have to really _die_."

It dawned on me how impossible it was for the two to escape the consequences of their identities. The manner by which Captain Ukitake informed us of the hopelessness of everything only served to contribute to our mortification. Grimmjow was going to die, and this time there was not a thing in my power which could retract the inevitable. Beside me, Inoue was on the brink of heavy tears.

"Well, fuck them Royals. Come on, Inoue; we have work to do." I heard myself say.

"And where are you going?"

"I'm gonna storm that stupid prison and there's not a damn shit you or any other captain can do about me."

To my surprise, Captain Ukitake smiled his pleasant smile, with nothing of the disagreement I expected him to have against my conduct. He told me,

"When the twins were being lined up for the chopping block a few centuries ago, they were imprisoned in a chamber very similar with the one in which they are being held now. Ordinarily, six or seven sealing spells were administered on the walls as protection against any form of siege or breaching."

"And your point is?" Irritated as I was, I was impelled to at least be courteous enough not to ignore him.

"My father managed to penetrate its walls a few hundred years ago."

"And so?"

"What you need is... the very same devise he used to break through the seals. Come with me, the two of you."

Inoue wiped her tears and stared longingly at the captain. I, much astonished with the turn of events, couldn't help thinking Jyuushiro Ukitake must be the next Commander should old man Yamomoto kick the goddamn bucket, otherwise the world really sucked.

…

I have heretofore drawn the more important parts of the story rather than the more remarkable events. In the light of what I have so far revealed, it is very easy to understand, or to predict, that Inoue and I succeeded in our plight with the help of the equipments lent to us by Captain Ukitake, but not without due difficulties. Having before faced more danger than what the emancipation of the two Arrancar required, we, Inoue and I, both knew we were up against less daunting obstacles. And so I will not trouble myself with the accounts of how we breached the walls of the Penitentiary without raising the uproar we expected, just as how Ukitake's father before us undertook the same labor once upon a difficult time. I am jumping to the narration of what transpired _after _we managed to smuggle the two former Espada from their tight incarceration.

…

Under the pressure of being caught, there was nowhere else for the four of us to go but to a place well beyond the detection of the soldiers of high power. We proceeded to the human world.

As we drew nearer and nearer to our goal, the awareness that soon we would part with the two Arrancar, to perhaps never meet again, became unrelenting and heavy in our hearts. I knew because Grimmjow and Ulquiorra made it clear how much they wanted to live in peace at last, to leave behind their family name and start anew as they had done countless times before. Grimmjow did not even inquire as to the whereabouts of the emblem he lent Inoue a few days ago. On top of things, I had wanted so much to settle accounts with Grimmjow and wipe out any misunderstanding we had had in the past. To part ways in peace, setting aside all the hard feelings which stood between us- was it too much to ask?

For the life of me, I couldn't tell why he hated me so. If I hadn't killed Ulquiorra, he would still be Cuatro now, in which case he would have been lost to Grimmjow forever. But slowly I came to realize this resentment was due to the environment in which he found himself, and he couldn't help it if he existed in a place and time which he loathed. In line with this thought, I could only wonder if he had at least considered me at some point in time as a person other than his one true nemesis. I so wished he had.

"We are taking you to Urahara. He will open a link to the human world and Hueco Mundo." Inoue was telling Ulquiorra, who nodded in gratitude. They did look very good together but, knowing they would never be, I couldn't help feeling sorry for her, and for myself.

In a few hours ahead we would be sundered forever, as sure as the rivers reached the sea.

TBC

A/N: Last chapter coming up. Tired of prolonging this crapfic so this has to really end.


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